US Congress to Announce Study on Virtual Currency Link to Terrorism Today

A US Congressional subcommittee is developing a bill to study the use of digital currencies by terrorists, CoinDesk has learned.

The bill, known as the “Homeland Security Assessment of Terrorists Use of Virtual Currencies Act”, is set to be marked up on Thursday by the House Subcommittee on Counterterrorism and Intelligence, undergoing a process by which lawmakers will work on the text of a bill.

Authored by US Representative Kathleen Rice of New York, it reads:

“Not later than 120 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Under Secretary of Homeland Security for Intelligence and Analysis…shall, in coordination with appropriate Federal partners, develop and disseminate a threat assessment regarding the actual and potential threat posed by individuals using virtual currency to carry out activities in furtherance of an act of terrorism, including the provision of material support or resources to a foreign terrorist organization.”

The mark-up comes amid a global firestorm around ransomware – malicious software that locks up a computer’s data and demands a ransom paid in bitcoin – following an unprecedented wave of attacks.